The Poultry Keeper

Kitsune · Joined: 13 Mar 2008 Posts: 1406 Location: Manchester

the most recent ones I've done I skinned then took the leg, breast and wing meat off - this way if you don't want the back and giblets for stock you don't have to go into the abdominal cavity at all = no bad smell!

I do use as much as I can so the backs, gizzards, heart and neck were used for stock and mum gets the livers because she loves them and I definitely don't!

Shadow gets the wings, feet and head so the only waste is the intestines, proventriculus, crop, gall bladder (obviously!) and skin and feathers.

From 14 birds we had between 2-3 kilos waste. I've not weighed the meat and I've already eaten some! there is certainly enough to keep us going for a while though!

Woodburner · Posted: Thu Aug 14, 2008 6:45 pm Post subject:

Well done Chris. Looks like I'm going to have to do my first any day now. The largest Cobb is almost crowing properly now, and a letter is in the post from the EHO on account of a single neighbour complaining about my adult cockerel. One I can keep muffled but not two; not that the neighbour would know the difference, he can't always hear the adult one even before I started muffling him and hasn't noticed that he has been successfully muffled.
Oops sorry about the rant. Embarassed

I have heard that you should starve a bird for a day before killing it. A long time ago I had a poorly bird, I didn't want her killed but after a day of not eating it was clear she wasn't improving, so I had to let BIL do the deed. Sad

On the plus side, she wasn't smelly inside.
I don't think I have the heart to deliberately starve poor Fatty though, I'm more likely to give him free range for the day!

Kitsune · Joined: 13 Mar 2008 Posts: 1406 Location: Manchester

I've never starved any of the birds I've done, though if I have a planned processing I'll aim to do it first thing and separate the doomed ones before they have a chance to eat breakfast - an empty crop is easier to deal with but the lower digestive tract is always full.

If you starve them there is also less chance of meat contamination but as long as you're careful and adhere to good hygiene I don't think it's much of a problem.

Bradders · Joined: 13 Aug 2007 Posts: 970 Location: Cambridgeshire

I know how to pluck Wink

But i don't know how to gut Rolling Eyes

Pekinout · Joined: 29 Apr 2008 Posts: 1188 Location: Cornwall

You should starve the bird the day before culling. My gran always did, but in commercial units they dont usually starve them, thats mainly because they are taken straight out of the house and put into crates, taken straight to the processing unit and killed. All within a few hours.

To 'gut' a chicken is easy enough.

Once you've plucked it, cut the head off, cut the legs off at the hock joint just above the foot (knee joint to us).

Make a slit in the vent area big enough to get your hand in, and then just put your hand in and pull everything out. You can 'feel' around inside the bird to see if you've got everything out, it should all come out near enough in one lump all attached.

Seperate the liver and the gizard and heart and put in a bowl of salt water to be cooked later for stock for the gravy.

Peel the skin from the outside of the gizzard to reveal the firm inner casing. Cut the gizzard in half along the 'seam' and empty the contents.

Once you've finished gutting the bird from the vent area, push the neck skin down to where the neck bone goes inbetween the collar bones (V shaped on breast by neck) and cut through the neck bone (put the neck bone in with the gizzard, heart, liver). Cut the neck skin thats left to a reasonable length, and slit it from top to bottom on the underside (back of the chicken) so it makes a sort of flap to cover over the neck hole where you'll be putting the stuffing.

Never stuff any bird the vent end, always the neck end. To keep the flesh moist put a whole onion in the cavity (vent end). This will steam during roasting and help cook the chicken from the inside to make it tender.